402 DUCKS. 



can reach it ; the farmers, however, succeed in killing it by con- 

 cealing themselves and their arms from its observation. It feeds 

 upon what it finds in the water, and always appears to be busily 

 employed in filling its stomach as it advances from piace to 

 place." 



Another genus of these ducks is represented by a bird pecu- 

 liar to Australia {Biziura lobata). 



Lieut. Breton remarks that he has never heard of any instance 

 in which more than two were seen together. They are met with 

 only on the rivers and in pools left by the otherwise dry beds of 

 streams. It is extremely difficult to shoot them, on account of 

 the readiness with which they dive : the instant the trigger is 

 drawn the bird disappears under water. 



The type of the race is — 



The Ferruginous Spiny-tailed Duck {Erismatura ferruginea). 



Sub-Family VIII. 



THE MERGANSERS. MERGING. 



General Characteristics. — Bill straight, and much compressed on the sides, with 

 the culmen elevated at the base and convex towards the tip, which is armed with a 

 broad and much-hooked nail, the lateral margins of both the mandibles more or less 

 serrated ; the wings moderate and pointed ; the tail short and rounded ; the tarsi 

 short, and the toes moderate, the outer as long as the middle, the three anterior 

 ones united by a full web, and the hind toe moderate, elevated, and margined by a 

 broad web. 



The members of this sub-family are distinguished by the 

 narrowness of their bill, as compared with its length, and by the 

 structure of its laminated edges, which assume the form of dis- 

 tinct conical teeth, pointing backwards. The food of the typical 

 species consists principally of fishes, for securing which this form 

 of the bill seems admirably adapted. The Mergansers are emi- 

 nently aquatic and swim well, but, from the weight and flattened 

 form of their bodies, appear deeply immersed in the water, the 

 head, neck, and back only being visible. They are also excellent 

 divers, moving, or rather flying, beneath the surface with great 

 rapidity and to a considerable distance : it is during these sub- 

 marine excursions tliat they capture their finny prey. Their 

 flight s strong and swift, and they have great endurance of wing, 

 but, from the shortness and backward position of their legs, are 



